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Galatians 5

10/29/2014

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Galatians 5:13
"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love."


What a thought, we can't say we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and then continue doing all the things we did before. ( His death and resurrection has given us freedom to say one thing and then do another.) This is FALSE thinking and is only dangerous to our growth and maturity in Christ.  What we thought was so good before Christ, we must consider garbage because He has freed us from living to satisfy ourselves and filled us with the Holy Spirit who shows us how to live for others. 

The joy of the cross is sharing and living a way that is pleasing to God not what is pleasing to us.  We need to really read what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 verses 7-11 and let them sink in to our hearts.  "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."  I say re-read it again now!  There is a power that comes from us surrendering and seeing the things we did for our flesh as rubbish.  We need nothing but Jesus and when we accept Him as Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit to help guide us off these fleshly desires that will continue to come into our minds. 

Our growth and maturity depends on our own passion to learn and seek wisdom.  We can drink milk and stay an infant, which we will find ourselves loving two gods; the world and what we feel is fun for us to do and two, the Lord who we will struggle having a relationship with because we can't let go of our flesh.  Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 verse 24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there."  We can't do the worldly things we did before Christ and think we are maturing off the milk.  We need to let God transform us into His image and listen to the Holy Spirit inside of us who is showing us a new way of living.  Verse 6 says, "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." 

We are new creations and we need to start acting like it, if we need the worldly things we once did to have fun, we are missing out on what we have in Christ.  He is what gives us the joy and peace we need to have the best life and the most fun.  Amen
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Galatians 1

10/23/2014

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Galatians 1:9-10
"I say again what we have said before:  If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.  Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.  If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant."


This is very interesting to me because it is going to be a huge part of what is going on in the world today.  The world wants us to change to fit in and we know we can't do that.  God is love and loves all people good and bad; He has no favorites but He still desires obedience because that helps us show our love for Him.  Because the world is approving all kinds of behaviors as acceptable doesn't mean we need to follow those trends.  As we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we need to surrender the things in our heart that are of the world and seek the truth to guide our actions.  It is love to say no to ourselves, because our flesh is week and we will turn what our flesh is hungry for into truth if we don't surrender.  Paul says at the end of verse 10, "...I would not be Christ servant."  We are not our own, we are servants of Christ, letting go of our desires that come from our sinful nature (Adam's sin) that leads to our death. 

Proverbs chapter 14 verse 34 says, "Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people."  Just because the world is accepting to all behaviors doesn't mean we must be, and if the world is trying to control the church then we must say no to the world.  Our feelings can't be what drives us in our life, it must be total surrender to God and believing His word is enough to follow without question.  I love what Paul say in verse 12, "I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me.  Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ."  This is what Jesus wants from us as we grow in wisdom and knowledge.  We go to church to learn and fellowship and then we open His word to ask, seek and know what the ministers are saying is truth.  Any Pastor that doesn't point you to God's word, you need to be Leary of.  We can't think that our desires will be what is good for us, because that's when we get comfortable and start to believe we are better than we really are.

Romans chapter 12 verses 1-3 says, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.  ((let go of what you feel your body is telling you about sexual likes or orientations)) let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind He will find acceptable. ((Not what we find appealing or satisfying)) This is truly the way to worship Him.  Don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. ((If you believe you were born a certain way, you need to let it go, it is old and we are now new.)) Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  ((It might not seem that way to our flesh but it is for our souls.))  God will transform us all if we let Him, we can't seek transformation on the parts that we want or that we think are easy and then follow the world on the parts that we feel or think are right in our sight.  We must open our hearts and minds and let God fill them, then when the Holy Spirit speaks we will hear and we won't be led by our flesh or feelings but by the Spirit of God.  Amen




 
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2 Corinthians 5

10/15/2014

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2 Corinthians 5:11
"Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others."


This is interesting to me because Paul is sharing how important it is to work hard, not just for personal reasons but for others.  God is trying to get us to remove all the selfishness that dwells in all of us so we can be attractive to others that might not know the Lord.  When we see selfish people we usually are not drawn to them, but when we see giving people there is something different.  It is definitely a heart thing and letting go of our worldly desires is a great way to grow and understand why we let the Holy Spirit lead us.  

James chapter 3 verse 15 says, "For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic."  Nothing done because of our selfish desires will ever make an impact for the Kingdom of God and when we think we are the ones doing it or growing the Kingdom we will have the wrong ambitions in place and it will be earthly.  James continues in verse 16 by saying, "For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind."  We must always check our motives, give them to God and be thankful for what He has done in our lives.  I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 12, "Are we commending ourselves to you again?  No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart."  A sincere heart led by the Spirit is one that doesn't need praise or doesn't have to say why, they just do because that is what God is doing in them.



Paul goes on in verses 13-14 to say, "If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God.  And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.  Either way, Christ's love controls us."  As we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we need to let what He did and taught fill our hearts and as that happens the Holy Spirit leads us with Christ's love.  Our selfish desires to have the most, be the most, and want the most turns into how we can share the most, serve the most, and give the most so we can shine Christ's love so others can experience is as well.  I love verse 15 which says, "He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves.  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them."  God's free gift is amazing, but it takes us accepting it and using it to be doing His will, which is perfect, so as we grow we become less of what our worldly self is and we become more of what Christ has shown us in His word.  


With that we develop and change because He is filling us and the Holy Spirit shows us our responsibility to continue to develop and share.  I want to end with verse 17 and pray that everyone really believes this and we  let's the Holy Spirit move us.  "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" Amen
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2 Corinthians 1

10/10/2014

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2 Corinthians 1:3-5
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ."


This is why it is important to study God's word everyday, so we understand what we can do as our faith grows. Everything we do in the Lord is for our maturing so that we can be a blessing to others.  If the (others) is not a part of our life then we need to check why we are doing it.  As we grow we share, as we share God gets the glory and as God gets the glory people change because He transforms them.  If we don't live out what we learn people don't see Christ they see the world, and that doesn't plant any seeds.


Paul says in verse 7, "We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us."  The more we are around people seeking the Lord for wisdom and growth the stronger our ability to be an example becomes.  God never wants us to do it alone, He wants us to work together in unity to share the Good News and water all the planting that is taking place.  As we think of others and continue to grow in our faith we must remember what God has done for us.  In verse 21 it says, "It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.  He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised us."


His love and the gifts of His Son and the Holy Spirit are where we get the strength to be doers and examples of what God wants from us.  Our obedience shows our love and our love can move people because of who we have on the inside.  We can't be unsure, we must be bold and courageous because God is looking for us to share the truth.  We are given the truth and as we grow our lives show the truth and that truth is what sets us free.  Amen  
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1 Corinthians 12

10/3/2014

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1 Corinthians 12:7-11
"A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advise; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.  He gives one person the powers to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy.  He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.  Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts.  He alone decides which gift each person should have."


This really jumped out at me today.  After praying about wisdom the Holy Spirit showed me these verses and put it on my heart to share.  What is amazing about these words is that they should be uplifting and here to help us grow but we make them about our ability and what we can do.  In verse 3 Paul says, "So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit."  So we know when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit in us and we are new creations and will be shown everything we need as we step up and look for (seek) it.  This is why Jesus says, ask, seek and knock, it's not so we have to earn something, it's so we can grow and be better for others.  

Look at verse 7 which says, "A Spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other."  As we pray we should pray for all the gifts that the Holy Spirit offers but not so we can say we are gifted but to live it out so others see the Lord in us.  I have heard too many people say; you have to have this gift or you should be able to do this, when that is not the case.  As we work and serve the Lord with the unselfishness that Paul and the disciples showed then our light that shines will be for others and we will be living following the Spirit who will give us the gifts we need to help people know and love Jesus.  The more we grow in faith by studying God's word and praying the more we will mature and the more we mature the more we do in obedience to Him.  I say this all the time, it's not about knowledge, it's about applied knowledge.  As we receive gifts from the Holy Spirit and we apply them for the good of others we will continue to grow and receive more, but it is still not our decision it is the Holy Spirits.

The end of verse 11 says, "...He alone decides which gift each person should have."  We can't worry about what we want to get we just need to use what we get to glorify the Father.  Pastor Kevin Goff from The Rock Church shared in his sermon, "The real difference in the church and the world is that we in the church should be difference makers."  When we are difference makers we are not working in our own strength we are working following the Spirit of God.  We need to let go of what keeps us attached to the worlds influences and really seek what God has given us in His Son (the word of God) and in the Spirit.  Pray without ceasing and live knowing we have eternal life because of Jesus Christ.  Amen 
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1 Corinthians 9

10/3/2014

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1 Corinthians 9:24-25 
"Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize?  So run to win!  All athletes are disciplined in their training.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize."


All the physical training is great or all the knowledge we get for our job, but we must realize the best way to develop our faith and live in the joy God promises is to train our mind and our heart for spiritual battle.  Nothing we do should be more exciting than opening God's word and seeking wisdom from it.  When we open it, it transforms our thinking and it shows us how to live, act, and deal with life.  The elite athletes have to work incredibly hard to develop the talent they have.  Great scholars study and practice their trade over and over again so they can come up with the next big invention or fad.  Doctors, well no one would go to a doctor that barely did any work in his/her field and was thought of as lazy or someone who just did enough.


If this is the case why do we not do our best to become who God has created us to be?  With all those other things or jobs the people doing them are already elite and at the top of their game, they continue to grow because there are people that are working on being better than they are.  With God's will, we don't have to be the elite, as we seek we will find and as we ask we will receive, anyone who desires it gets it.  Paul says in verse 26, "So I run with purpose in every step.  I am not just shadowboxing."  Their is purpose for Paul and what he is doing and we are given a purpose as well; the great commission.  Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20 says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  


We are called to do something with our "free gift" not just sit back and watch.  Some people will be able to be pro athletes or doctors or chemist but we all can be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and do what Jesus shows us in the Word.  Paul continues in verse 27 by saying, "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.  Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."  We can't get caught up in everything in life without realizing the best guide and training comes from the Lord and as we study it God will transform us into His image and we can make a difference for the Kingdom of God.  Amen

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